After the bloody conflicts of Essling and Aspern, Napoleon remained stationary for a considerable time. The Archduke, uneasy at the movements of Marshal Davoust before Presburg, dared not assume the offensive, and employed himself in fortifying his position between Aspern and Ebersdorf. Napoleon labored at the reconstruction of the bridges, and the communication between the island and the right bank was re-established. Soon afterwards, the Emperor learned that the army of Italy, under the command of Prince Eugene, had defeated the Austrians, and that the victors had effected a junction with the army of Germany, on the heights of Simmering. On the 14th of June, the Prince gained another victory over the Austrians at Raab. Marmont, after some successes in Dalmatia, came to re-unite himself with the Grand Army, and to place himself within the circle of the Emperor’s operations. Napoleon’s eagle eye saw that the moment for a decisive stroke had arrived, and he immediately began the advance movement, which led to the famous battle of Wagram.
About ten o’clock at night, on the 4th of July, the French began to cross the Danube. Gunboats, prepared for the purpose, silenced some of the Austrian batteries. Others were avoided by passing the river out of reach of their fire, which the French were enabled to do by their new bridges. At daybreak, on the morning of the 5th, the Archduke Charles was astonished to see the whole French army on the left bank of the Danube, and so posted as to render the fortifications which he had constructed with so much labor utterly useless for defence.
Greatly frightened at the progress of the French army, and at the great results obtained by it, almost without effort, the Archduke ordered all the troops to march, and at six o’clock in the evening, occupied the following position:—the right, from Stradelau to Gerasdorf; the centre, from Gerasdorf to Wagram, and the left, from Wagram to Neusiedel. The French army had their left at Gros-Aspern, their centre at Rachsdorf, and their right at Glinzendorf. In this position, the day had almost closed, and a great battle was expected on the morrow; but this would be avoided, and the position of the enemy destroyed, by preventing them from conceiving any system, if, in the night, possession were taken of Wagram; then their line, already immense, taken by surprise and exposed to the chances of battle, would allow the different bodies of the army to err without order or directions, and they would thus become an easy prey without any serious engagement. The attack on Wagram took place; the French carried this place; but a column of Saxons and another of French mistook each other in the obscurity for hostile troops, and so the operation failed.
When the bloody and indecisive struggle was relinquished for the night, only one house was left standing of the village of Wagram, which had been taken and retaken, and at length destroyed by the furious cannonade.
As the movement designed by the Emperor had failed, it remained to prepare for the struggle of the next day. It appeared that the dispositions of the French and Austrian generals was reversed. The Emperor passed the whole night in strengthening his centre, where he was in person within cannon-shot of Wagram. To effect this, the lion-hearted Massena marched to the left of Aderklau, leaving a single division at Aspern, which had orders to fall back if hard pressed, upon the island of Lobau. The intrepid and inexorable Davoust received orders to leave the village of Grosshoffen to approach the centre. The Austrian general, on the contrary, committed the time-condemned error of weakening his centre in order to strengthen his wings. All night could be seen the far-extending lines of the blazing fires, which seemed to join each other in the distance; and all night could be heard the heavy tread of the troops, marching to take up positions under the vigilant eye of the Emperor. Brave, confident hearts, how many of them were destined to be swept to earth by the storm of the Austrian artillery!
At length, the day of the 6th dawned upon the plain of Wagram, and exhibited the two vast bodies of men, whose accoutrements glittered in the light, who were about to be hurled together in deadly conflict. At the first peep of day, Bernadotte occupied the left, leaving Massena in the second line. Prince Eugene, with the laurels of Raab freshly enwreathing his brow, connected him with the centre, where the corps of Oudinot, Marmont, those of the imperial guard, and the divisions of the cuirassiers, formed eight lines of battle-scarred veterans, eager for the fray. Davoust marched from the right in order to reach the centre.
The enemy, on the contrary, ordered the corps of Bellegarde to march upon Stradelau. The corps of Colowrath, Lichtenstein, and Hiller, connected this right with the position of Wagram, where the Prince of Hohenzollern was, and to the extremity of the left, at Neusiedel, to which extended the corps of Rosemberg, in order to fall upon Davoust. The corps of Rosemberg and that of Davoust, making an inverse movement, met with the first rays of the sun, and gave the signal for battle. The Emperor made immediately for this point, reinforced Davoust with the divisions of cuirassiers, and took the corps of Rosemberg in flank with a battery of twelve pieces of General Count Nansouty. In less than three quarters of an hour, the fine corps of Davoust had defeated Rosemberg’s troop, and driven it beyond Neusiedel, with great loss.
In the meantime the cannonade commenced throughout the line, and the dispositions of the enemy became developed every moment; the whole of their left was studded with artillery; one would have said that the Austrian general was not fighting for the victory, but that the only object he had in view, was how to profit by it. This disposition of the enemy appeared so absurd, that some snare was dreaded, and the Emperor hesitated some time before ordering the easy dispositions which he had to make, in order to annul those of the enemy, and render them fatal to him. He ordered Massena to make an attack on a village occupied by the foe, and which somewhat pressed the extremity of the centre of the army. He ordered Davoust to turn the position of Neusiedel, and to push from thence upon Wagram; and bade Massena and General Macdonald form in column, in order to carry Wagram the moment Davoust should march upon it.